Drones may drop in on the guy next door

"Tell me something," my neighbor Babble was saying to me. "What do you think you'll do with your drone?"

Huh? What? I cleverly responded. What do you mean, my drone?

"You know, drones. Those mini-aircraft with no pilots, the ones that flit around and point cameras at you. Or, if you happen to be a Taliban boss, point a rocket."

I know what drones are, Babble. The military uses them, and some police agencies as well, for surveillance. But the Virginia General Assembly just approved a moratorium on their use, for the next two years.

"Yeah, government authorities wouldn't be able to use them here, at least for now. But what about private citizens like you and me?"

We haven't got drones.

"Not now, but wait a while. Doesn't every new whiz-bang gadget wind up in the consumer market? Look at computers. When we were kids, computers were humongous things that filled entire rooms, and only the government and giant corporations had them. Now everybody has one. There are computers no bigger than a pack of Juicy Fruit, and kids carry them around in their hip pockets."

So you think we ordinary folks will be buying personal-size drones?

"That's my prediction: In a few years, they'll have Christmas sales on drones at Sears and Best Buy."

But why would we want them?

"They'd be terrific fun. Imagine sitting at your computer screen at home, exploring the sights from your drone's-eye view as it flies wherever you want. And dozens of practical uses, too."

Such as?

"You could be your own traffic watch. Say you've got to go over to Norfolk. Your drone could go up and see if traffic is backed up at the bridge-tunnel, and you'd know whether to take an alternate route."

That would be handy.

"Or, you're a parent who wants to watch your kid's ball game, but you've got to stay home to wait for the plumber to show up. Send your drone up over the ballfield, point its camera at your kid, and you can watch him play without leaving the house."

The next best thing to being there, I guess.

"In fact, you could have your drone follow your kids everywhere, to keep an eye on them and know where they're going."

That could make for happy parents, and unhappy teenagers.

"Hunters could use them. Have your drone circling the woods around you, spotting where the deer and turkeys are. Just like a fish finder, but on dry land."

Sounds a little unsporting, somehow.

"Same thing for motorists. Send your drone on the highway a few hundred yards ahead of you, scanning the sides of the road for concealed police cars waiting to catch speeders. Better than a radar detector."

Would that be legal?

"It will be a nuisance for movie stars and other such celebrities. They have a hard time now fending off the paparazzi, next they'd have swarms of drones buzzing over them like gnats."

As if Lindsay Lohan didn't have enough troubles.

"But the biggest demand will be for domestic use. Say a guy phones his wife and says he's working late at the office. She'll send up her drone to see if that's his car parked outside the Dew Drop Inn for happy hour."

Oh, my. Will a man have no place of refuge?

"He will have to fight back. This naturally will create an ancillary market for drone-jamming equipment."

Wasn't it just reported that those al-Qaeda guys have ways of hiding from drones? Like, they put grass mats over the tops of their cars? How does that work?

"I guess they write on the mats in big letters, 'There is no car here.' Those cunning devils."

I'm sorry, Babble, but this is creepy. Lots of people worry about Big Brother snooping on us. What if it's not Big Brother, but little sister? Or suspicious boss, or inquisitive spouse, or — nothing personal, Babble — nosy neighbor?

"Heck, I have no interest in spying on you, pal. Although these drones can also drop things, so there's a swell potential for practical jokes. Just think: water balloons, ha, ha!"

Seriously, will privacy become a thing of the past? Will a time really come when there are drones all over, watching everything and everyone?

"You can't stop technological progress. If you can build it and knock the price down to $49.95, batteries not included, people will buy it."

If that's true, then I have some advice for those folks of the future.